


From Love to Family, via Betrayal, Truth and Justice

by Ceceism



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Asian Jason Todd, Because I still haven't read any comics, Before he goes crazy of course, Bruce will definitely be in here later, But I want you to know that in my head Slade is the Slade from Lian Yu on Arrow, Everyone is BAMF, F/M, Good Parent Slade Wilson, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, I'm not going to tag everyone and everything until I've written it, Implied/Referenced Torture, Lazarus Pit (DCU), More tags to be added, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Canon Compliant, Our four assassin leads kill people, Talia al Ghul is Jason Todd's Mother, at least I think so, my second fic, prepare for some surprises, so will Ra's al Ghul, the new characters might not be who you think
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28787217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ceceism/pseuds/Ceceism
Summary: Slade betrayed the Demon's Head by working with the Justice League to bring down the Light. Yet he isn't alone: he has his daughter Rose, his wife Talia (who had definitely been in on the plan to stop the Light, don't worry) and her son Jason (who she may have kinda stolen from the Batman, but what Bruce doesn't know can't hurt him yet). He might also have Dick, who was like a nephew to him these days (he didn't have any other nephews, as far as he was aware, but he was sure that's what Dick would be).The five of them are going to stop Ra's al Ghul, trick the Justice League, track down what was lost and somehow do it all together.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson, Rose Wilson & Slade Wilson, Talia al Ghul & Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul/Slade Wilson
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	1. Asmani Castle to Baigujing Palace

**Author's Note:**

> First attempt at writing a multi-chapter fic. This was born from a funny story I was writing but never bothered finishing because I kept getting distracted by Backstory, which is why you get this.   
> First chapter is completely Slade-centric.

**Asmani Castle, Balochistan, Iran**

The four of them sat together in the destroyed League of the Assassins fortress. The base was still smouldering around them, and they really should have left. Jason and Rose had gone through and disabled all vehicles bar the fastest plane while Talia and Slade had dealt with the issue that they were all currently sitting around.   
That issue was the recently deceased Doctor Song. Song Luli was a League of Assassins doctor, born in the League and sent to university when she showed an aptitude for medicine.

Not medicine in the strict sense of healing, because Talia’s father had little interest in that. But Song knew the human body and how it worked, and she had been working for Ra’s al Ghul as a doctor for twenty-nine years.

Talia and Slade didn’t know the human body as well as Song, but they knew how to torture, and that’s what they’d been doing to Dr Song for the last three hours.   
But Talia had gotten upset, and when she stared to actually cry, Slade had decided it was time to give up on that angle of investigation and killed Song. The Demon’s Head’s doctor was not likely to break anyway. He called Rose and Jason back to help comfort Talia. As her adopted son and stepdaughter, Slade couldn’t think of anyone whose presence would better help Talia come to terms with Dr Song’s original claims.

They were all stained with the blood of assassins, sitting on the ground in of the highest balcony of Asmani Castle. Now in the hills of south-eastern Iran, Asmani Castle was one of Ra’s al Ghul’s many safeholds outside Khadym, Nanda Parbat and 'Eth Alth'eban. Talia, Slade, Jason and Rose had been living there for the past month – many of the teenagers that came through the League went to Asmani Castle, and with Jason seventeen now and with Talia for what was nearly two years, and Rose sixteen, Asmani had some of the best teachers for them, which was how Talia and Slade had been spending their time.

The destruction if Asmani Castle by the four of them had been precipitated by Talia’s father ordering the execution of Slade Wilson, her husband. Unfortunately for him, he had sent the order to one of Talia’s secret loyalists, expecting Slade’s immediate death. Especially since Ra’s al Ghul did provide a good reason: Slade betraying the Light, of which the al Ghul clan leader was a part, with two Justice League plants as his co-conspirators.

It had been true, of course, and Jason knew it. Slade, with Artemis Crock and Nightwing under the aliases Tigress and Renegade had decimated the alliance of supervillains, and while Slade had known it was risky for himself and his daughter to remain with the League, he hadn’t wanted to leave Talia or walk out on his promise to marry her. The Demon’s Head, then unaware of Slade’s treachery, had approved of the wedding, albeit begrudgingly.

Apparently, Slade had been caught.

He was surprised. He had expected to have a few more months – time enough for the four of them to safely get away, for sure.

It wasn’t true that Slade, Talia, Jason and Rose had killed everyone at Asmani – Talia’s informant had obviously been spared, as had anyone who fought for Talia and Slade when her father’s zealots attacked. But the zealots had been outnumbered by those who accepted Talia’s suggestion to return to ‘Eth Alth’eban and avoid the entire conflict. There had been quite a few of those, and they had departed as soon as the main fight was over.

Dr Song had been one of the zealots, but she had tried to barter her way into a ride to ‘Eth Alth’eban when she had seen the tide turning.

“She was probably lying,” Rose said finally. She and Jason were sitting on either side of Slade and Talia, dressed in the plain black outfits of the Demon’s Fang trainees. Talia wore an open abaya with a belt in the gold-embroidered green that her father wore above black salwar pants and a matching plain shirt. The outfit was traditional to elders of the League of Assassins, evolved from the most practical parts of all the styles they had assimilated throughout the centuries. Slade wore nothing of the sort, despite being her husband: khaki pants, black T-shirt and a plain keffiyeh.

“Probably,” said Talia, agreeing with Rose, but Slade knew what it meant that she rested her hand low on her stomach. He also didn’t like the blank note in her voice, the way she stared at the horizon.

Jason didn’t either, obviously.

“There are other ways to know for sure,” he said. He smirked, but in a quiet, wry way that Slade had learnt only meant one thing. “What did the Ra’s used to call him, after all?”

The _him_ Jason referred to was more of a _Him_. Jason wouldn’t say the Batman’s name anymore, nor refer to him by any other description, not since Talia had taken him back to Gotham for a week six months after she had taken him. It was always just _Him_.

“Do you think we can detective well enough to prove Song a liar?” asked Rose, catching Jason’s reference.

Jay shrugged. “We can try.”

Slade looked at Talia. She was nodding slightly, and centring herself by pressing her palms together. That was a _yes_ to the plan then.   
“Pack your bags up,” he told the kids. “We can start planning when we know we won’t be interrupted.”

Rose and Jason both skipped away easily. Skipped was probably the wrong word, but they both still moved with a bounce in their steps. Slade found it endearing.

* * *

**Unknown Airspace Between Iran and China**

They managed to leave uninterrupted. Slade wasn’t surprised, but he knew they had to be careful from here on. He’d managed this long by doing just that, and he was going to do his best to make sure Rose, Talia and Jason stayed ahead of their pursuers – both those from the Demon’s Fang and those from the agencies that might have noticed the explosives that they set off at Asmani Castle after leaving.

Including, but not limited to, the Justice League. And Nightwing, who was calling him on a private line reserved for the eldest ex-Robin. Slade had been piloting their stolen plane, because Talia needed a break and the children were still children, even if they were fiercely over-competent children who would never let him hear the end of it if he called them children to their faces. The burner for Nightwing was one of three phones Slade kept on his person at all times – set to vibrate only because he was an assassin and he really didn’t like unexpected ringtones – and it had never rung before.

Then again, it had only been six months since Slade had hooked up the number.

He was reluctant to put the superfast unregistered plane on autopilot, but Jason was in the co-pilot’s seat and took over the controls when Slade indicated. Talia had given them a starting point, though it was unclear how much they would actually find there, and Jason knew the way.

“Nightwing,” he answered in a carefully cultivated smooth accent. He’d learnt it at Adeline’s side, when they’d been swanning about in High Society, living off her trust fund. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“To the fact that your cover has been broken?” Nightwing replied, sounding enough like a question that Slade was sure Nightwing was only guessing. Still, it wasn’t enough of a question that Slade could easily deny it. Nightwing, though only twenty, wasn’t the sort to be so easily fooled.

“Were you worried about me, Nightwing?”

Slade could see the boy smirking back in his mind. “Worried about myself, more like. Do you need any help?”

“Not yet,” he replied, though he briefly considered it. Jason would never stand for it, his official stance was that he had no opinion on Dick Grayson, which almost certainly meant he missed him but would never admit it. “I’ll call you back if I have a problem. Don’t worry, Richard.”

The boy hummed. “Okay, I guess. Stay safe, and tell Rose I said hi.”

“I will.”

Dick hung up first, and Slade turned to Rose over his shoulder. “Richard says hi.”

Rose smiled. Slade was almost one-hundred percent sure – perhaps 98.5% to be specific – that Rose had had a crush on Dick when he had first started training her during his Renegade time, but when Dick had started calling her ‘little sister’, Rose had started to think of him as a brother too.

“How worried is he?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. He was rather flippant, which could mean it was just a check-up or it could mean that he’s on his way to Asmani right now.”

“He’s on his way to Asmani,” Jason declared as he handed control of the plane back to Slade. “He didn’t ask you a single question, did he?”

Jason was right. Dick had asked if they needed help, sure, but not anything about what had happened, which meant he already knew or was confident he would soon.   
“You’re right. He asked if we needed help, but nothing else.”

“He’s going.” confirmed Jason again. “But don’t worry, they can’t track this plane, I’m sure.”

Slade was sure too.

* * *

**Baigujing Palace, Heilungkiang, China**

They were just cleaning up the latest mess when the unmistakable snap and whine of a superfast plane decelerating and landing had all four if them coming to attention. Slade and Rose, by this point, were in their Ikon suits, complete with matching masks. Talia was in a black combat suit with a green and gold open-sided tunic with belt wrapped around her waist and a matching scarf covering her hair, green eyes blazing with Lazarus fire above the gold chain of the Arabic-style mask. Jason was in a black suit similar to Talia with a tunic and sash in the same style tunic and belt – probably borrowed from Talia, honestly – and a green keffiyeh hiding his face secured by a golden agal.

When they heard the plane, Jason had immediately checked his scarf was still in place – he still feared being recognised by his former family.

His paranoia wasn’t misplaced, either – Dick Grayson, in his black-and-blue Nightwing costume, was the one to emerge from the plane.

The four of them had watched from a distant window, and when it became apparent that nobody was going to either join him in leaving the plane – for Slade, Jason, Talia and Rose – or attack him – for Nightwing – they began moving toward each other.

Nightwing greeted them fairly cordially, considering he must have seen the damage they did to Asmani and the bodies they had left around this base. Considering it was a League of Assassins medical facility, it hadn’t been a gentle process for the four of them to secure control.

“Hello, Deathstroke. Hello, Ravager. Hello, Talia and other Talia.”

Slade nodded and Rose did a small wave.

“That’s Junayd al Ghul, a warrior of our people whom I have adopted as my son,” Talia told Nightwing, when he greeted Jason as ‘other Talia’.

Nightwing did a double take. Slade admitted he enjoyed seeing the usually unflappable young hero pause. Talia, however stiffened in offense.

“Lost children with the right colouring seemed to help Bruce get over our other lost children,” said Talia, voice venomous. “ _You_ are in no position to judge me for doing the same as he.”

By the way Nightwing’s jaw snapped tight and his gaze shot over their shoulders, Slade surmised that Nightwing knew of the specific loss that Talia referred to. And Jason could have the right colouring, even if Dick couldn’t see his hair. His eyes, usually aquamarine, were as Lazarus-green as Talia’s own. His skin, though freckled, was still a different tone than a white person’s would be: Jason’s biological mother had been Chinese, but not pale-skinned, and while the rest of his genes came from a white man, he still looked rather ambiguous. With what Dick could see – the dusky skin, the slight freckles, the green eyes – he could have been any League of Assassins teenager, even if he was Talia’s handpicked heir. With her skin and her eyes, the same way Dick, Tim and previously Jason had Bruce’s hair and eyes.   
“I’m sorry for insulting you. And your son. Why are you here?”

Dick did sound contrite – there was no hesitation or condensation that Slade could see when he called Jason Talia’s son, which he knew would matter to them.   
“We’re taking down my father,” Talia told him. “Don’t get in my way,” she added like a hiss.

Nightwing, proving his common sense, stepped to the side of the hallway they were in and allowed Talia to storm by, Jason close behind her. Rose took off her mask and followed them, smiling cheerfully at Dick. Slade took off his mask as well, giving Dick a small smirk, which the boy returned. Slade felt the little stabbings of guilt at keeping the truth about Jason from him, just as he had when the boy had been using the name Renegade.

Slade knows Dick’s eyes are skimming him through the whiteout lenses on his mask, and works to hide his tells but is obviously unsuccessful.

“Something you want to tell me?” Nightwing ask insouciantly as her falls into step beside Slade.

“No,” says Slade, jaws clenched. “In fact, we were just finishing up,” he says in a lighter tone.

“A final sweep, was it?”

“You know us too well,” Rose throws over her shoulder.

Nightwing laughs.

Slade can tell that he doesn’t mean it.

He swears in his head as the five of them go back to the two planes, Nightwing having landed beside them.

He should have known it wouldn’t be as simple as overthrowing the Demon’s Head and tracking down the truth of Song’s claims.


	2. Baigujing Palace; Also, Wayne Manor, briefly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still at Baigujing, Dick tries to figure out what's going on with the Wilsons and their companions, while the others devise their next move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll find the timelines random and elusive, but I'll but the ages her for reference, though they'll mostly be mentioned in the story. Also, I'm not sure how things happened in the comics but I'm just dragging all the bits and pieces I like and putting them in, so some of it might not make sense.  
> Dick is 20 (He was orphaned 8 and adopted at 16)  
> Jason is 17 (Adopted at 13, died at 15)  
> Cass is 18  
> Rose is 16

**Baigujing Palace, Heilungkiang, China**

Slade and Rose were always fun. Dick rather liked them both, even if they were still disappointingly murderous. Nevertheless, as far as he knew, the only people they had killed since their ceasefire with the Justice League – since Dick had gone undercover with them as Renegade – were trained adult members of the League of Assassins. He wasn’t saying that was an excuse, not with the kill count over thirty, but it wasn’t enough to turn him against them.

Besides, Talia and her son – and wasn’t that a trip, Talia taking in a kid just like Bruce – had clearly helped with all the murder, and Dick had always disliked Talia.  
Always, of course, meant since he was eight. Bruce had taken him in. It was shortly before he and Talia called things off for good, so she’d come around a couple of times, but they hadn’t been friendly. Years later, while actually drunk (and not just faking it), Bruce had told Dick that they had suffered a miscarriage a month before his parents died, and Talia had returned to her father, unable to agree with Bruce on certain crucial things such as, say, _murder,_ which Bruce wouldn’t be as forgiving of as Dick was being. Probably.

“So, taking down Ra’s al Ghul himself, huh,” Dick says as the five of them march back to the planes. “Big job.”

None of them laughed. It wasn’t really funny anyway, Dick reminded himself, as they walked passed a dead woman in Demon’s Fang robes. He knew there were people still alive in the palatial base they were walking through, but all Ra’s al Ghul’s zealots were in whatever Hells they believed in.

“How did you know?” Slade asked instead.

“You blew up that base in Balochistan.” Dick frowned at him. “Did you not think people would notice?” The explosion had been rather obvious.

“How did you know we were _here_ , Richard?” Slade said, in a voice Dick associated with Rose misbehaving late nights when they were undercover with the Light.

Dick, of course, is not going to tell them that he used his phone call with Slade to build a trackable profile of the superfast plane they were using. It would take too long anyway. Instead, he told them, “Don’t worry, I didn’t snitch.” _Batman doesn’t know,_ he meant.

He had chosen himself to be the sole investigator of the incident at what the believed had been called Asmani Castle, telling Bruce that Oracle was investigating (Bruce would never cross Barbara; he was scared of her) and everyone else that Batman was on the case, but had appointed him lead investigator. He thought it was a good plan, if he did say so himself.

Now to decide what to do next.

“Are you going to snitch?” asked Rose. Talia and her son Junayd were still walking ahead of them at a fierce pace, and neither had looked back. Talia, as always, walked with her signature prowl – she could really pull of the whole hunting lioness thing. Junayd appeared to be copying her, but he wasn’t as good at it as she was.  
Dick rolled his eyes, even though the others couldn’t see it. “Of course I’m not going to snitch, Rose.”

Probably. He found himself remarkably willing to forgive the Wilsons for murder these days, and that leniency had automatically extended to Talia when he decided to throw everyone off their scent and let them get away from Asmani.

Besides, it was rather obvious what they were doing. He hadn’t needed Talia to tell him they were going to try and defeat Ra’s al Ghul. That had been rather clear from the day she had agreed to the Justice League’s ‘take-down-the-Light’ plan. Sure, she might not have left Dick a timetable, but he’d known it would happen.  
On another note, he did wonder where Junayd al Ghul had come from.

“So, Junayd,” he started, and the other’s shoulders stiffened ahead of him. “What’s your favourite colour?”

A pause. Slade and Rose were looking at him askance too, from what he could see.

“Why the fuck would you want to know?” asked Talia’s son, in what Dick thought sounded like a suspiciously American accent.

“Because I am trying to get to know you,” Dick explained in what he hoped was a reasonable tone. “Besides, I thought questions like _how long ago did Talia adopt you_ and _were your birth parents part of the League as well_ were a little bit heavy for the first ten minutes.”

Dick’s main purpose, riling Junayd up to get a decent read on him, had mixed results.

“Stick to favourite colours,” Junayd said in reply.

“In that case, mine’s green.”

Junayd’s perfectly timed steps faltered. “Green? Not red, or, you know, blue and black,” he said, waving a hand over his shoulder at Dick’s Nightwing uniform.

“The blue’s from the last Nightwing.” He shrugged, ignoring the ever-present ache – now only hazy – when he thought of the long-gone Chris Kent. “And honestly, red is so overdone. But green – I mean, you guys clearly get it.”

“Actually,” interrupted Talia as they reached the door, “Green is the colour of royalty to our people. Only members of Ra’s al Ghul’s family and those who have survived the waters of Lazarus are permitted to wear it.”

“That’s cool. Wait, _only_. If I – not that I ever would, obviously – but if I joined the League of Assassins, I wouldn’t be allowed to wear green ever again.”  
Talia glared at him over her shoulder. “That is correct.”

“Well, that’s another mark in the Cons column.”

“I will remember that if I am ever attempting to sway you to my side,” said Talia.

Outside, it was more obvious that they were not alone, as about fifty people had survived the initial attack and were not imprisoned. Instead, they were packing up a cavalcade of four-wheel-drives with as much of the specialty equipment as they could. They were, however, doing that around the other side of the massive building – Dick had landed out the front both to avoid them and because that’s where Slade had landed. Still, a trio walked by and saluted Talia, not attempting to make any move against Dick himself, for which he was very grateful.

Junayd stood aside very quickly, refusing to look Dick in the eyes even though he had a scarf with a gold chain attached to hide his face. Dick figured it probably wasn’t an identity thing anyway. The League of Assassins appreciated secret identities, however they did not practice them.

If it was an identity thing, that probably meant he was one of the faceless ninja Dick had fought before. Most wore plain black outfits with hoods and scarves over their lower faces when they were fighting, so that didn’t leave Dick much to recognise. He was probably reading into things anyway, but twelve years of paranoid living would do that to a person. He wouldn’t recognise Junayd. Talia’s son was just an exemplary member of the League of Assassins.

Maybe it was because he’d thought Talia unsentimental, even when he was a child, but it did seem very odd for her to randomly adopt some no-name League member. Unprecedented, certainly.

The five of them gathered in a circle between the two planes, the other four quite obviously trying to think up a way to leave him behind.

“So why this place?” he asked instead.

“Baigujing Palace,” said Talia disdainfully. “Our leading medical centre outside of Khadym, and one of my father’s most loyal garrisons.”

That Dick didn’t believe. There were too many survivors packing up for that. He shot her a sceptical look. “Yeah, those guys out the back look _really_ loyal to him.”

Talia narrowed her eyes at Dick, but he stared back evenly. She had always scared him, and probably always would, but even though he knew Slade and Rose would take her side in any fight, having them there made him feel less like a lone vigilante deep in League of Assassins territory. Of course, Talia did not break. She was not scared of him. He might be a well-trained and well-armed son of Talons, but she was the Lazarus-blessed centuries-old warrior backed up by her son, also with the glowing green eyes of the Lazarus-touched, her super-soldier assassin husband and the genetically-modified daughter he had with a spy. Whatever secret advantages he had as someone who was basically half-Talon were nothing compared to the al Ghuls and equal at most to the Wilsons.

No, Talia al Ghul would bever be scared of Dick.

He looked towards her son. His skin was paler than hers – Talia’s skin was on the darker side for Arabic – but not like Slade’s. The same as Dick’s own, perhaps, or close enough. Even with the freckles, Dick could still believe he was at least mostly Middle Eastern. Besides, the League of Assassins might be based in Khadym, but they had people from all across the globe, as evidenced by Baigujing Palace, where at least half of them appeared ethnically Chinese. Most of his face was hidden – he had the emerald green of the al Ghuls as what looked like two scarves – one over his head and the other around his lower face that was entwined by a golden chain. There was a slight downward slant to his eyes and what Dick could see of his nose was high-bridged.

Aside from that, Junayd al Ghul was taller than Dick, though it was hard to judge, as they weren’t standing close together and it wouldn’t have been more than two inches difference. He was stockier too, with broad shoulders and a highly muscled physique. His age was impossible to guess, but he wouldn’t be more than a couple of years older than Dick. Other than that, there wasn’t much to go on.

Except that slight American accent.

“You weren’t born in the League, were you?” he asked him.

 _”Why do you ask that?”_ Junayd asked in Arabic, with a perfect Khadymi accent.

 _”Why are you trying to hide it?”_ Dick returned in the same language. Dick could copy most accents fairly well in most languages. He considered it one of his most undervalued talents.

Junayd laughed, and returned to English. “You’re partially right,” he said as his accent slowly slid closer to the one Dick himself usually used. “I was born in China, raised in America, died in Africa.”

“When did you join the League?”

“After that. I un-died and Talia took me in.”

He must have been very interesting for Talia to use the Lazarus pits on him, especially if she then adopted him as an al Ghul.

Playing a hunch from the accent, Dick said, “New Jersey, huh.”

Junayd’s eyes became even greener, not that Dick had thought that possible, and he sensed Slade, Rose and Talia tensing. He wondered if that was confirmation of Junayd’s New Jersey origins. He also wondered what that meant. As far as Dick was aware, no young men from New Jersey had died that the League of Assassins would have been interested in enough to resurrect. No-one, barring Jason, would have any interest to the al Ghuls.

Dead. New Jersey. Talia.

But it couldn’t be Jason, Dick was sure. They hadn’t been very close – Dick had been formally adopted at the same as Jason and not long after that began arguing with Bruce – but the Jason he’d met…

Could be Junayd. He might not have been born in China, but Dick remembered Bruce running blood test on the two bodies found in Ethiopia – Africa – and discovering that Sheila Haywood had lied. Bruce had gone back and found other samples, anything to prove it wasn’t Sheila Haywood that had died with Jason, but in the end, all Bruce had discovered was that she was a liar.

And not just a liar, but a prepared liar. She had had that photo of baby Jason ready to present to him when he had arrived, so she must have known something. The ‘S’ on his birth certificate may have even been for her, but she hadn’t given birth to him. Bruce, being a paranoid old bat, had considered everything from a body swap to chimerism, but in the end had concluded that Haywood simply was not his mother.

Still, it wasn’t likely. But Junayd had died, and Jason was dead, and Slade and Rose were obviously hiding something, and it was Talia al Ghul, and the Lazarus Pit could bring people back from the dead, and Jason was Robin, so maybe.

But he couldn’t just ask that, he couldn’t bring it up.

Instead, he changed the topic.

“So, where are you planning to go now?”

Talia and Junayd stayed tense, but Slade and Rose gave themselves away by visibly relaxing when Dick stopped pushing into Junayd’s past. Rose might have been raised by a spy, but she was too much Slade’s daughter, in Dick’s opinion. They could fool most people, but they couldn’t fool him.

What on Earth was he supposed to do if it really was Jason?

“I have a safehouse,” claimed Talia. “We have some research to do. Ideally, our future endeavours will be conducted in Khadym, so you don’t need to worry about any further incidents. This is an internal political affair.”

“Internal political affair, right, right. Nothing to worry about. You know what, I’ll stick around anyway. You might need an extra hand.”

Slade’s and Rose’s faces fell. Talia removed her mask so Dick could better receive the effect of her full-face glare. Junayd crossed his arm.

“Not unless you know of a secret training facility my father has for the children of the League.”

“I’ll look into it,” said Dick with a grin, and pulled out his phone.

* * *

**Wayne Manor, Jew Jersey, United States of America**

Cassandra was at the Manor, her home, when her elder brother called.

She liked having brothers, one big and one little. Of course, she had later found out that Cain had had other children. Her half-sister, who had introduced herself as Marque. The apprentice her father had raised known as Mad Dog. Maybe more. She wasn’t jealous of them – Marque and Mad Dog – because now had a good dad, and a nice family, but sometimes Cassandra hated that she had been the only one raised muted.

The only one he saw as nothing more than a tool.

But more importantly, Dick was her brother now, and he called her. She paused the show she was watching – a very cool one called Leverage, she could definitely see herself as a Parker – and answered with a, “Hello, Dick.”

“Hey, Cassie. Are you busy?”

“No. I am watching Leverage. It is great.”

“I know, I’ve season one. But, look, I have a couple of questions. You don’t have to answer, and they might be hard ones. It’s about when you were a kid.”

The bubbly feeling from her brother’s call slowly disappeared. She didn’t blame Dick, though. He wouldn’t ask her if it wasn’t important. In fact, Dick had never asked her personally for information about Cain before. It was very odd. “I will answer. What is your question?”

“Is there any place in particular you were taking for training with the League of Assassins as a kid.” In the background, she heard a female murmur. “About twelve years old? Anywhere that I could find a League of Assassins twelve-year-old?”

Cass hummed. Humming was a nice sound, very versatile. “Ra’s al Ghul has a secret place. Far from Khadym. Children and trainers only. I do not know the words for it, but it was an island. Not Infinity Island. Much further than that. It was all stone on the outside, almost square shaped with circles at the corners and huge walls. There was a blue dome on one of the corners, a big one with a statue of Ra’s al Ghul at the top.”

“Thanks, Cass, that helps. We think the place you’re talking about is called Ana Belen, does that sound right?”

She didn’t know, and she didn’t want to disappoint Dick. Ana Belen meant nothing to her, though. It was just a name.

“I don’t know. I hope so.”

“It’s okay. Thanks, Cass.”

“Be careful, Dick,” she told him as he ended the call.

Right before she resumed the Gone Fishin’ Job, she wondered who Dick’s ‘we’ had meant, but she could ask Bruce later. Dick was not silly. He would be fine.

* * *

**Baigujing Palace, Heilungkiang, China**

Dick hung up the phone and looked at the other four. Talia had listened in on his conversation with Cassandra and interjected when she felt like she knew where it was. Honestly, Dick shouldn’t have even called Cass. Talia’s mysterious mission was not more important to him than his sister’s mental health, or at least it should have been.

Ana Belen Island, a League of Assassin fortress in the Caribbean. Never as much fun as it sounded, the Caribbean. Far too much humidity and lethal wildlife. Better than the Artic, though. Must have been a terrible place for Cass when she was a kid.

“So, you guys want to go to Ana Belen?”

“We will be going to Ana Belen,” snapped Talia, as she turned her back opened the ramp for her plane.

“Mind telling me who this kid is?”

“Only if you persist in accompanying us.”

“I do persist.”

Talia turned. “My child. Proof of my father’s sins.”

“You’re not talking about Junayd here, are you?”

“Of course not.”

Dick thought about it, and then decided to think out loud. “So you might have a twelve-year-old. But twelve years ago, you and Bruce…” He let the thought trail off, watching Talia carefully.

“This child would be your half-sibling, yes. Not by blood, but legally.”

Well, that was something Dick could process another time. Bruce really was going to kill him when he found out where he was. This just kept getting worse and worse.

Which reminded Dick – “Okay, I don’t know what to do with that information, but you are not getting rid of me, so Rose and Jason can fly to this Ana Belen Fortress with me and you and Slade can take yours.”

He’d just called Junayd _Jason_. It hadn’t even been entirely on purpose. It was just a terrible impulse. Hadn’t Bruce always told him to think things through?

But Junayd-maybe-Jason was unwinding the scarves from his face, glaring at Dick. “How did you know?”

Dick tightened his fingers on his hip, barely able to feel it through the protective padding. He also reminded himself to breathe. “Unlucky guess,” he told Jason in a voice higher than his usual tone. This was not how he had planned his day to go. He was going to _kill_ Slade Wilson, and he didn’t care what anyone had to say about it. That bit hurt, honestly – the Wilsons keeping the secret from him.

The more he stared at Jason, the less he could think properly. Then, “You need to hide your accent better,” he told his little brother.

“My Arabic is perfect,” Jason spat defensively.

“Your English isn’t. It gives you away.”

Jason’s eyes narrowed, and he cursed in Arabic. “Not everyone can be as good at accents as you, Richard.”

“I have so many questions.”

“I’ll go on your plane if you let me fly.”

“ _Jason,_ ” Talia hissed.

That worked. Dick hadn’t been planning to double cross them, despite what he now knew.

Which was that Bruce had two secretly not-dead kids he was still mourning for.

Next time he thought one of his former allies was in trouble, Dick was rolling over and going back to sleep. In the meantime, Jason could definitely fly them to Ana Belen. After all, he couldn’t leave his little sibling in a Caribbean fortress.

“You can fly. What about Rose?”

Talia turned to Slade. “If Jason, goes with him so does Rose.”

Slade turned to Rose. “You don’t have to.”

Rose turned to Dick. “I’ll come.”

“Great.” Dick laughed hollowly. “On to Ana Belen.” _To collect his next lost sibling._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi. I'm still working on this, so we'll see how it goes. If you have any questions, please let me know!  
> Thanks for reading :)

**Author's Note:**

> Don't get too attached I might not finish it. I might also make it into a series, I haven't decided yet.


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